A Nightmare
by Dragonandthewerewolf
Summary: AU, after Hogwarts. Hermione goes on a lunch date with Ron that is not really what it seems.


Hello! DragonandtheWerewolf here. This is my sixth story. The plot comes from a story my friend told me a week ago. I thought it was pretty good and decided to write my own version modified to Harry Potter Land. Enjoy!

Disclaimer I own nothing of J.K Rowling's genius.

Hermione Granger was sorting through her winter coats, a boring chore, but it needed to be done. July or not, she could see her breath. A thin layer of ice had formed on all puddles both indoor and out, and there was even a bit of snow on the ground. If the phone was working, she could call Harry and see what he made of the weather. But the phone wasn't working, and the muggle whom she rented her apartment from, Mrs. Aliano, was no where to be found. Hermione smacked her jacket irritably, sending puffs of white dust into the air. The coat closet doors had fallen off and the coats, like everything else, were covered in dust. Looking at them, she could not decide which one to wear to her lunch date with Ron. It had become their little tradition after graduating from Hogwarts, to have lunch at a little café called Caesar's every Wednesday. It was an elegant place, but not very fancy, so her fur coat wouldn't do. She was already bringing a two year old into the café and she would be a spectacle even without the coat.

She immediately felt ashamed of herself. It was hardly Robbie's fault that his babysitter didn't show up. Robbie was the little boy she had adopted soon after graduating. Everyone who saw him marveled over his dark curly hair and his intensely blue eyes. The babysitter, an older woman, adored him and always brought him little presents. She was supposed to come three days a week, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. On Wednesdays, she was supposed to come an hour earlier so that Hermione could go to her lunch date with Ron. But here it was, almost noon, and most defiantly a Wednesday. Hermione was late for her lunch and the sitter had not yet arrived. She had missed her lunch date last week, she couldn't remember why, and it would be incredibly embarrassing to miss this one too. All she could do was to take Robbie with her.

She looked at her coats one last time and nodded as she made up her mind. The blue velvet would do nicely. She lifted it from the hanger, gave it three good smacks to get rid of the worst of the dust, and put it on over the three wool sweater she had on.

"Time to go, Robbie," she called as she carefully walked towards the nursery.

She had to be careful. There were several holes in the ceiling, and two in the floor. Broken glass littered the floor from the shattered windows. She had asked the handyman about fixing them when she had run into him outside a couple of days ago. But he had only bared his teeth at her and said breathlessly, "The hell with your windows, you bitch."

Hermione had never approved of people who cursed.

Robbie was in his crib, right where she had left him. He looked very grown up in his little trousers and blazer. She held her hands out to him and said, "Ready to go sweetheart?"

He glared at her.

"Don't you want to come with Mommy, baby?"

He remained stubbornly motionless in the corner of his crib. It was so unlike him. Usually he beamed and giggled at the prospect of going anywhere. Hermione sighed. Maybe he wasn't feeling well. She was feeling a bit under the weather herself, aches and pains that didn't seem to go away. Still, even small hurts could make a toddler cranky.

"Never mind, Robbie dear. It will be fun." She said.

She became aware of an unpleasant odor in the air, and opened Robbie's pants to check his diaper. Clean and dry so it wasn't that. She had noticed the odor several times recently and wished she could call a doctor about it, but couldn't do anything with the phone in the main hallway until it was repaired.

Hermione walked downstairs with Robbie on her hip, trying not to rely too much on the banister which had come loose. She considered setting Robbie down and letting him walk down the stairs himself, but decided not to. He wasn't very good with stairs yet. Anyway, acting like this, he would probably just sit there and refuse to move. When she reached the door, she reached up to unlatch it and then laughed at herself. The front door was blocked by a piece of broken ceiling that the handyman refused to get rid of. Fortunately there was another door in the kitchen. On her way out, she paused, thinking. She enjoyed Caesar's so much because of the excellent service and food. But with things in so much turmoil lately, even Caesar's might find it's self under strain. Hermione walked into the pantry and after deliberation, picked out a can of bean soup. She loaded that and a can opener into the pockets of her coat and walked out the door.

As Hermione walked down the street with Robbie, she passed many people also walking on the street. None of them would meet her eyes when she said hello to them and one man even ran away weeping at the sight of her. Obviously he had never been taught anything about good manners. When Hermione reached Caesar's, she immediately saw that Ron was already there. Rushing in, she babbled apologies, telling him about her babysitter never arriving and Robbie's bad mood. Ron didn't say anything. She sat down and said, "Well, I'm sorry then."

Ron didn't answer. She set Robbie down and Ron didn't look up. Hermione felt like bursting into tears. All the effort she had put into getting here and Ron wouldn't even listen. She took a steadying breath and looked across the room. She could see an old hag with madness gleaming in her eyes sitting across from the decaying corpses of a woman and a little boy dressed in tattered finery. "Oh my dear." said Hermione, feeling a rush of sympathy and leaning towards the woman.

"Oh my dear." said the hag leaning towards her.

Hermione leapt back from the mirror in horror. She could suddenly remember why she missed last weeks lunch date. She bent over, feeling dizzy and the room spun. Suddenly she straitened up and sat down again.

"I have some bean soup for Robbie," she said to Ron, producing the can and a can opener from her pocket, "though I'm not sure he will like it. He's never had it before."

END

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